Here's Yet Another Hotel That's Opening in London This Summer: The Cafe Royal

If you were crestfallen to hear that the Bulgari London, now opening June 1, would be out of your price range, you'll be happy to know that there's another new hotel opening in London this summer (actually, there's quite a few, thanks to the Olympics) that will better suit your budget--The Cafe Royal.

We first learned of this place way back in 2008 when plans were first announced to turn the landmark Cafe Royal on Regent Street into a hotel. Now, nearly four years later we're starting to learn a little more about the property and thanks to our Hotel Bond, James Bond, we've got some snapshots of the construction too.

According to the website, the hotel will be part of the Set Hotels Collection whose set includes the just-opened Conservatorium in Amsterdam and the forthcoming Lutetia in Paris.

With their London property, Set is creating a 159-room luxury hotel out of the former cafe which will also house an Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Centre (including a pool, gym, spa, yoga and meditation studios) along with restaurants, bars and the famous Grill Room and Domino Room.

The nearly four-year renovation process has been overseen by David Chipperfield Architects and it has incorporated some modern architecture along the backside of the hotel. The retail space at the bottom of the hotel will even include a new outpost of Whole Foods,
yet the public rooms of the original building remain.

Unfortunately, we don't have any interior shots or renderings yet so you'll just have to make do with the construction snaps from late February.

Meanwhile, the opening date and the room rates are still TBD. But if the Whole Foods sign is an indicator, this place could be open by late May. The term "luxury hotel" however has us thinking around 300GBP a night. Sigh.